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Leader (1850-1860), 12th July 1856, Edition 2 of 2, Page 16, W?99 __^i^^^^^Z^^XZSmmm mmmmnrr

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      W Wb Foresee That Our Task Of Indicating...

      WimmBrnmsMmm ^¦ zW ^^ J ^ M r ^ S ^ Historv- ? ' " Hereditary Influence , , Anunal and ^^^^ T ^ SS' " M ^^ B ^ o ^ il ^ - - ; i « ial seMfens ^« Contemporary Literature ; " making altogether a very

      excellent iniMb & v ' "" ? : ' ' " ... .. " . ' ^ .. _ ' ¦ .. , , ^^^ fc ^ S' ^^ towSgi ^^ r Jtey ^^^ arf ^^ f crSrWarao ^ C paro £ prfludaaEn . er . ; _ It opens \ nth a long and Operate arti # e on ^ Mb ^ B ^^ cairceT r ^ orth so much space ; then follows a Critical profcest against Qbotk ' s character pf Aikxahdbe xbs Gbkat ; a judicial and well-timed paper on « Pictures andificture Criticism ; a review of Fbotob ' s Histoiy ; and a remarkable paper on ^ hat the writer felicitously callsthe \ EtdriOhircH , andits novel , Perversion . HighChurch , Low Church , Broad Church , arid No Church , seem to us preferabler to that Hard Church so forcibly characterized in this paper , and so unconsciously betrayed in the m alignant £ of & named Perversion . Next in ordfsr coinef ; the article which we like thebestt m the number , although < m the somewhat unpromi s ing subject- of Shr ! R © bkbx Pkex > . , There is no mistaking here the . brilliant and penetrating author of thepapers on MacAvi ^* * Ti & 4 toiEffinburffhIleei * ipers

      in fornier numbers , fcind if his subject is this turifr less felickotis , his manner is equall y admu ^ ble ; The thesis' &> fexpburids is that S ^ r RdibiBT was nearly the ideal » f a constitutional statesman a ^ such a stetesman ^ "' ^ and the creed pf a second-rate man . " - One might be tempted . toquery the ' firat-rate —seeing that such powers ought to irielude originality , invention , depth , arid audacity . But nothing can bVbetterthan the writer * s descri p tion r ^ -- * ¦ ~ % coiistitutidnai statesman'is in general a man ot cotaaion opinions and uncommon abilities . ' ^ e ' rJea ^ n fe obvious . " When we speak of a free : girternvaeht we mean a government ni ^ hich-thie sovereign power is < fividetf r in ^ rtteh ' a singl e decision is not absolute , where argument has an office . The essehce of the " gouVernement des avocats' * -as ttheEmperorNicholas called it , is that' yon ittust persuade > so many

      , persons . ' The- appeal is not to the solitary decision of a single statesman ; not to Bichelieu or . Nesselrode alone in his closet ; but to the jangl ^ TW * as . 4 > f > inei ! K with A ttonsaral paramts , * thousand interests , a . t ^ usandL ^ aJ cipus . haJitSj , r Publfc opinion , to say of Burke : " Burke is a wise man ; but he . is wise . t < 8 > sopn . " ^ / T he av ^ rag ^ mari will not bear tins . lie . is a cool , coinmto person ,. ^ witXi 5 icohsiaeWte ' a ^ , ^ withflgurte 3 in Ins ^ mlna ^ ~ wWSnt f / e ^ arising froni and' ^^ fb ordMaSrylife ; ' Hecan't bear wi ^ ty o ^ ijWgtnklitieB . He say ** SiSfir ^ £ tteVear i » aT ( d ; such a- thing iejbr * my life " j" and he ' thinks this a veduc Ha ad « £ •«*<&*» . You may see his taste by the reading of which he approves . Is / there a mom splendid -monument o £ talent / and in ^ nstry ; than ! tbeZ ^ ' ww'' -No wonder . final O « average : ! wan—< -that any one—believes in it , As Carlyle observes : V Let the highest Intellect , able to write epics $ ry $ o , w ? ite , BVfik » : l « ader ; f ° r * W ? 0 ™ - fail

      ing newspapers ,, it ,-cannptdo it ; the highest intellect mil .:, -put am you ever » W anYjthtog JhQre ypu had never seen before ? Out of ( the . million artiples that every-Docljr ' has read , can . any one person trace a single marked idea to a single article ? Where are tn 6 deep ' theories , and the wise axioms , ind the everlasting' sentiments ¦* $ fch tftewijiefe'of ' the most influential publication ip / tneworjd 'have been * he first to cbmmunicite to ah ignorant species ? Such wMieni are fair ^ too shrewd . . Th ^ two million , or ^ haterer number of copies it nifty tei i & ef >& tff l ^ oai * nWfavmaXl & b 4 oaas 4 tk « Ixtyer * wish-to know ivaw ^ nkth . tTbe'iputcteaifte * ' desire * an article which haioan appneiati at sighi ^ -which , he can hiy down and / say . r . ^ Aja exoellent article , very excellent ; exactly my own sentiments . " . ; . OrigmaH ; tbt » rj ( ea .. gi . vft .- ' troiBble ; * # *&«* ^ . ialWlW ) ii ^ tm ^ ^ tlieC ^ rt llx ^ tig ^ doea ijriqt 4 wifP . itei . be . . af t ap ^ le of nj ^ v ^ s joqmstt ^ coftt ^ mporftFieous dealers ;^ f ^^ e , wante . to . be pr 6 v | ded with . i ^ ma ^ s . he canr makBonthe topics of the day which -wiil not be known nqt tq be , bis , ; firsss ^^ i i ^ i ^ t ^

      ii al « tractodly th ^ 'berf £ or md » t InktAicWe , fctit that whldtf mdstr Vx & dOy taKes MJ > tW minds of men "where it finds them , catches the floating sentiment of sociefyj /^ ute ^ t in ' sricb ' tt'fbitn ft ¥ ~ i ^^ sorfety whi < lh flld not bBlieve , ^ -so ' th a ntost influential of < constHutidnai % tateB ** an : i * the on «* % h ^ most felicito « sly « xprd 0 « ea the creed of- the momftntj who > adminUters it , who embooles tt inUwi and ; kutitutiDn & i who gires ^ it < the highest 'life lift is capable of , hvho induces tha > ayieE ^/ rasntoi 1 hin ] k ^ Icciild not bave done it any better if Jf had bad time 4 SP ? f ^ Vr , ^!^ ' j «> K » x ? r , il A . ¦(/![• :. ¦ . / i r . v U-. v . > . i ¦ ' . < r > . '; : '¦ . . > '¦ : .: .. ••! J l . ¦ ¦• . ' . . ;¦ i < WW catrn ( M ) reaiflt quotuig thifi subtle and finely expreas & l description of

      Xord BywaV * mind gained every thing ft was to cainTby one intense , striking effort . iftyaolowoHne imagination he elioltSd a' single bright enark of TRgtVbri ' eV ^ ysubjWr , ftnl 4 't ^^ wM ^ « ll . ° Anrf tWs he ncvek lost . The intertelty of the thinkibg- action s % emed to bW'ift on ^ -thtf -memory , there ' to retrain alone . But he made h 6 seebnd effort ? he gUiiiiftdtldi » brt > i J 'H * WN »* ays avowed his incapability of c 6 ntmiJMiB appll-OMion : he oonld not , ¦ h & said ; vlearn ( he grammar of any language . In later Ufa he allowed considerable' talent * for action ' 7 bub those who had to apt with hhn obse , rveH iMfef versatile-as' were his talattto , and mutable as hi * convictions had alwayd seemed ^ b ^ , 4 n jreaUty , the jr »» . the most stubborn . of menw Un heard what you h * d to » ay , W « J »* it { jM | # Ejr - <» tkfbad to aay- ; , and , &<» next morjuing retHrned , to ,, his o ^ nal opiniop . j » o amount of ordinary argumentative resistance was so hopeless sa that

      S ! lJ ^^ ! 9 ^« rtJP 9 hr ^ ^ K ? « 9 uFT 9 « i v T lw trujtJh was , that he , was . — . nd fA ? l ? rfflwtp & $ 3 m \ P ^ ftP * t ^ —uoaple to rewu | a anything which he dW not at ^^** ffiT . ff l'S \ 'y im , ktWifa & single rush of hiflovrn mind . The Ideas bf such WinMwit u ^ r ^«^ fV « H ^ often they are hardly tip . the strictest sense original ; 4 li ^ reaUy >^ er « v « ry ^ mti *» tfgW « d ' from without , mi 3 preserved in some obscure rtMuitt' ia * M 6 ifr , ' *«» 6 # t lWHfJ ^ an ^' unkno ^ n ; bnt It remains their charaoterlatic m * 4 h * y * mra fbthe mtoA * t € ti + ihlok ^ to be born ftoon ita own depths , to be the piXMtttoi ; ot , lt * lmtmv . itonmv , Vhant M » 4 / kind of eruption of ideas , from a subterw ^ Mtwetomworld . ^' Tbe >)^ i » ola imentaL ^ aeiioa « , !¦ ,. vole « alc | the , lava floodvglowa ^ in WttoiifffitoHti all Uwwthou « U | # , ure la ^ aa © , t < U » pmfartfc vivjld , ; The . day after th , e eroptloa the mind 1 * calm ; it seem * aa If it could not Main do the like ; the-ptoduct

      ; 6 Wr ? Ina 1 aiC ~*^^ 8 pp 1 ) siteI 6 f' 1 mis : ^ Hfe o & mdiis far ^ ihore resembled Ae daflyawsutttatottng insensible debositB at a rieS alluvial adfl . Thti great * strtiatovtiPtinie ^ flows on with all things on it » - -lMtft < t » r and slowly , grain by grain , a mould of wise experience la ^ unconscwusl , left on ihektill . extended intelteefc You scarcely ibink of Bucia mind as acting ; it seems : always acted upon . There iautttracftof gilshing , 9 Verpowiering , spontaneous , impulse ; everything seems acquired . The thoughts are calm . In LK > rd Byron , ^ the very style—dashing , free ,, incisive )—ahowa the bol ^ unpulsefroia . wliich if came . The atedUhyaccumulating wards o / Petlseem litce the quiet Xwmn ^ s of at ^ ptt ^ oard tendency whicii brought these , but might as well hare brought others . There is no pecullaj stamp either in the ideas . They might have been any one ' s ideas . They belong to the general diffused stock of observations which are to be found in the civilized world . ¦ " ' .- .. < -. ¦ ^

      An excellent paper on Professor Wixson arid fh « f NocteX y one on the " Past and Future of Christianity , " and one on * ' American Art ^ eties" conclude the number . . , . . ' : _ j j . The British Quarterly begins with a paper onV Peel and the Ffeel Party in 1856 , " follow this up with a review of Mr . Gossb ' s books , in a st ^ Hb meant to be amusing—science in jest ; then reviews the Life of Warbiaw ; Vbhsb' ^ boot on the German Courts ; Vaughan ' s " Hours with the Mystics ; " and " Recent Editions of the Greek Testament . " Besides these it has a biographical paper of interest on < c Aubrey—antiquary and gQ ^ sipj' ^ w ^ h pleasant extracts ; and two political papers . Bait pur space is exhausted , and we must b & eontentf ^ with thfe brief * notice . *

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      -., - A Natubai.Ist At Tenby. Tertb^R A ...

      -., - A NATUBAI . IST AT TENBY . Tertb ^ r a Sea-tide Holiday . By P . H . Gosse . Van iToorst If you are to spend your holiday at Tenby by all means put Mr . Gosse ' a volume in your portmanteau ; and if any other spot on our coast attracts you , Mr . Gosse may still be your companion . Not that he is a particularly good describer of places , or that he tells you much about Tenby which your own observation would miss ; but he is an enthusiastic naturalist , and is admirable in his accounts of animals . His books , which are popular and deserve to be so , afFord good illustrations of the old but much neglected truth in literature , that a man writes well about the things in which he is really interested and which he xeally knows . Set Mr . Gosse among the fissures and boulders of the Devonshire coast , or in the noble caverns of St . Catherine ' s Rock ; and he will discourse with an enthusiasm arid a vividness

      truly delightful : the naturalist then is uppermost ; and Mr . Gosse is only a naturalists When , on the contrary , he tries to be facetious , philosophical , theological , or pictorial , his failures are remarkable . Theria is in Tenby somewhat less of that ill-placed , and « verywli « re '* iau 6 eous , oompound , of bad se ^ ri 0 n ^ aWd ^ poot ^ p 6 ett < yr'wliich ' 'idi 96 gutrfes hh & iRtuAblevion thd & eooxskire Coast ; but ^^ there is more obvious bookmaking ^ and for bookmaking he has neithei ? style » or « rtv v We notice these defeot * in' his ; pleasant volume * because he should be warned against such facile but profitless writing in future ; Let him continue to observe and record his observations , and leave " literary efforts" to more accomplished writers / Hid pen arid pencil serve him admirably when he has' brily aniniab to deliwente ; but when he tries to make incidents out of the most ordinary occurrences , and when he drags in Exeter Hall reflections , he wearies the reader .

      Besides the animals well known . to ' Naturalists , ; Wh \ Gosse describes some less known , and records some facts of interest about them . For example , it was long a dispute whether Sponges were animal or vegetable fc , Mr . Boweirbank's discx 3 » . Trery of cilia in the little sponge known as Qrantia Compressa settled the question in most minds in favour of the animal nature of sponges . Xf ^ 'M &&&* m <* f ^ atttyug h iniporVnt ^ ^ R ' not ngqj ^ up ly conclusive , since , nc \ any of _ the flowerless plants have cilia , arid all the zpqspqres 01 plants hay ^ ifcenv Hence there is great value in , the fact recordea oy Mr . Gosse . TKe ^ Carljali iqponge , ' ao common in tike tWrd cavern of St » Catherine ' s , at Tenjby , is . eeen to pout ' froin ^ ts little eminpncea atranapareiit membrane , in th ' e , fprija of a , bladder . These bladders Attracted Mr . Gosae * s attention , and he toui ^ eil one w ith the point of a needle ; , " it at once shrank up into a wrinkled cx ^] fump , but 4 ^ d . not r ^ trac ^ , and presently disload ^ d again . " Here we ^ hav ^ . ^ he two characteristics of animal Ijfe—cpntra 9 f < Uity and spontaneous mpyen ^ eut , ) The ammal nature of _ the ' sponge , is thereby established , unless we cla ^ B the spongo with the sensitive plants . . ,. Df course the reader knows the iellv-fisb .. or " sea blubber . " so often cast

      upon tHe sands , ' especially after a gale . Medusa is the scientific name , and beautiful is the illustration given by Mr . Gosse " of the RMzos ^ ijma which he captured . He observes that small fishes are so , used to resort to the chambers underneath tho disk , that , children , ' when they find these Medusro ilpatintf , turn . them over to seek for the fish , ' «? It liqfl "been , supposed that the ^ stpa voluntari ly resort to these chambers for shelter : p ^ it shelter from whatP one naturally asks . , It is quite , po ^ ble that tiujy vo ^ y be attracted into , them by some motive or other ; but I opprehond that the uUerior object of thtf ordinance is not the benefit q £ tlie fish , but that of the Medusa . I believe it ia always found—certaiqly it was so in my specimen—that while some of the'fishes are alive others are dead and bearing the appearance of partial digestion . " This passage , which , looks so plausible , labours under two disadvantages , one ofiriaccurate anafamy , and one of inaccurate observation . The " chambers" to which Mr . Gosse alludes are not stomachs , nor that

      are they stomachal : they , are therefore npt thp cause of appearance despr ' ibed , by him as , " partial digestion , " nor are they receptacles oT food . They are pyorian chainbors . , Secondly , jtho observation of fisli and Moduaic establishes as a fact , that these , c ^ ainbcr 8 are sought by fish as shelter from thoir enpmicA ., Mr . Gosso has himself , candidly reproduced tUe , excellent observations of Mr . Poach , who saw very email fishes playing round the Medusa ? , and when'alarmed or attacked , ruahing under the , umbrella and among the tentacula of the Medusa , where they remained , until danger had passed , and then emerged again to sport and play round their sheltering friend . When under , the umbrella they jay 00 close as tp allow themselves to bo taken into a bucket with the Medusa , from beneath which they would come out and Sambol as when in the aoa . And it strikes us as remarkable that Mr . Gosse t » 9 ^( i not have remembered his owu observationj recorded in his Devonshuro

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), July 12, 1856, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_12071856/page/16/